Photoshop Tutorial: Mastering the Lasso Tool and Selection Function
Photoshop is a really unique program because it gives you the opportunity to do a million different things to one photo. In Photoshop, there are numerous tools you can use, each with an individual function. The key to mastering Photoshop is to master the individual tools. The tools range from the crop tool, the healing brush tool, the paint brush, and many more. Each tool has an individual task and can do different things to a photo, leaving you with many different outcomes. When mastering a tool, it's good to take it one step at a time.
One important tool and function is the Lasso Tool and the selection function. By knowing how to use the Lasso Tool and the selection function in Photoshop, you can have the ability to do numerous different things, including changing backgrounds, adding objects to photos, and much more.
In this tutorial, I will guide you through the steps to use the lasso tool and ultimately select elements in your photos. It's a good thing to know because it can lead to learning other tools and other functions within Photoshop, no matter what version you have.
Before we begin, make sure you have a photo that you want to work with. This can be a picture of an object or a person. Try to skip landscapes and other scene pictures for the sake of this tutorial. If you don't have your own picture, just visit morguefile.com or sxc.hu and choose one from there. They're free and you can find a picture of virtually anything. I'll be using a picture of a pink, rubber ball I found on sxc.hu.
So let's begin!
Step 1) Open your picture in Photoshop by going to File > Open and searching for the photo like you would any old document. If you copied and pasted off the web, go to File > New and then click OK. The size of the new canvas will be adjusted to the size of your photo.
Step 2) In order to make a selection around your photo you need to select the Lasso Tool on the vertical menu bar on the left hand side of the screen. Just hover above the icons and Photoshop will tell you the name. Click on the Lasso Tool when you find it.
Step 3) Using the Lasso Tool, draw around your subject carefully. If you've chosen to use the Lasso Tool around a person, make sure you get all of them so that the dotted line is completely around them. Same goes for using an object. When you've completed the selection, it should look similar to the example photo attached to this article. The trick to selecting with the Lasso Tool is to zoom in and work carefully, making sure you get all the edges. If you have to lift your mouse, make sure you resume with the Plus Lasso Tool. To get this tool, select the original Lasso Tool and find the Plus Lasso Tool at the options on the top of the page on the horizontal menu bar.
Step 4) Now you've selected the object or person. You now have the capability to copy and paste the selection wherever you want. You could put your person in front of a beach scene or wherever you like.
Step 5) You'll also notice that you can move the image around on the same canvas. If you use the Move Tool, you'll notice there will be a blank space where the object or person originally was.
And there you have it! You've mastered the lasso tool!